Between January and August 2021, a Singaporean man, Tan Chip Huat, cheated 10 women of over S$72,000, The Straits Times (ST) reported.

Four of the women were sex workers whom he had unprotected sex with, and he did not pay them.

Three of the victims were also 17-year-olds who knew one another.

He pleaded guilty on Jul. 25 to seven charges involving his cheating of five women and an amount of S$46,000.

13 more charges regarding the remaining amount and the other five women will be taken into consideration when Tan is sentenced next month.

What was his means of cheating the women?

ST further reported that Tan advertised on classified ads website Locanto that he was looking for a "sugar baby."

Tan also claimed that he earned about S$60,000 a month and worked in the finance industry.

In reality however, he was a former cleaner who drew a salary of less than S$2,000 per month, and he was unemployed from January to February 2021.

CNA reported that Tan has also been convicted of cheating before in 2005 and 2013, and he was released from prison in 2020.

Who were some of his victims?

First victim

On Jan 4. 2021, Tan's first victim was a student who responded to his Locanto post, which also offered S$5,000 a month.

Tan also told the student that he would sponsor her tuition fees at an art school, which meant that the amount of money he was essentially claiming to pay for sexual services came to around S$20,000.

They met at a hotel in Outram Road where they had unprotected sex.

Afterwards, Tan told the woman he would pay her S$10,000 first as he needed some spare cash, according to CNA.

He also convinced the woman to lend him an additional S$400.

The money that Tan promised never showed up in her bank account however.

In addition, Tan continued to ask the victim to either meet up or introduce friends to him.

This included an instance in which he shouted at the victim on Jan. 8, 2021, when she said she could him find a person to accompany him for the night.

Second victim

The first victim eventually asked her friend (second victim), a 17-year-old single mother with a baby son, if she would have sex with Tan for S$1,000, CNA reported.

Her friend agreed as she needed the money and met Tan on Jan. 8.

However, Tan also failed to pay the second victim and said he would pay her an extra S$100 when she confronted him three days later.

The first victim then transferred S$1,100 to the second victim out of her own pocket, as she thought Tan would reimburse her.

However, Tan became upset when he found out about the money transfer.

He called the second victim and demanded that she return the transferred money, otherwise he would find her address to beat her and her child up.

In response, the second victim temporarily transferred some of the money back to the first victim to meet Tan's demands.

Third victim

Tan continued to threaten the first victim, even though he still owed her money.

ST reported that the first victim panicked and approached her close friend (third victim) who was working as a social escort at the time.

Tan then received an S$500 from the first victim after he threatened to expose the status of her friend.

Tan subsequently had sex with third victim at a hotel along Newton Road on Jan. 13. However, he did not pay her the S$3,000 he had promised.

CNA reported that Tan was arrested on Jan. 21, but he continued to cheat women until August 2021.

Fourth victim

In May 2021, Tan met a 25-year-old woman through the Locanto website.

This woman told Tan she had credit debts of S$5,000 and Tan offered his help by claiming he would transfer S$77,000 to her for "safekeeping" as he was bad with financial management.

The woman then lent her credit card to him a few days later, when Tan said he needed money.

This led to Tan using her card to make various purchases, including Apple iPhones, which he then resold for a profit.

The victim ended up losing more than S$11,600.

She made a police report on Jun. 15, 2021.

Fifth victim

In Jul. 2021, Tan responded to a 23-year-old social escort's advertisements on Locanto.

According to ST, he offered to pay her S$6,000 a month as his "sugar baby."

He also passed her a cheque and asked her to write S$10,000 as the amount to be received.

However, the cheque bounced and the fifth victim made a police report on Jul. 19.

For each count of cheating, Tan can be imprisoned for up to 10 years and fined.

Top photo by Mothership